SAIC design chief unpicks the MG Cyberster

The MG Cyberster, which saw its first public display at the 2021 Shanghai Auto Show, is a two seat roadster whose name is an amalgam of cyberpunk and roadster. It was developed in joint effort by MG advanced design department in Shanghai and the Advanced Design Centre in London.

“Why buy a car…?” Shao Jingfeng, SAIC’s vice president of design, asks Car Design News. Designers around the world are all trying to maximise the feeling of space, he says, but have forgotten some key aspects of design when it comes to EVs. “They’re too simple, no passion, no emotion. If you buy an EV car you don’t want to just show you know the future, but you want to show why you chose an EV, it is really fast much faster than a normal engine.”

While thoroughly modern, the design of the Cyberster pays homage to MGs of the past, in particular the MGB. “With MG you always have round headlamps, and this is my modern interpretation,” says Shao. The Cyberster features flush eye-like lights.

There is also what Shao refers to as the ‘MG line’ running the course of the side, while inspiration for the arrow-like rear lights come from the union jack flag. Also mounted in the back, like a rear-engined sports car, are the battery packs which at least for the concept are removable for home charging.

The steering wheel is almost akin to a gaming controller, and Shao says that the entire cockpit was completed with the influence of gaming. The car gives the driver with a score for things like parking and whether or not road regulations are followed correctly.

This kind of concept is new in the world of production vehicles, and one that could take some getting used to. “In three or four years, Chinese people can accept this kind of car. Before, Chinese people just bought cars like tools, not as things for themselves, this is changing,” says Shao.

Four years back MG showed the E-Motion concept. This, suggests Shao, was ultimately too big and expensive to produce, plus the battery technology and price at the time couldn’t support it. However, the Cyberster presents a different potential. According to Shao, the model that was unveiled at Shanghai represents about 70% of what the future production version will be like.

A crowd-funding project, MG Cyber Cube, with a target of RMB50 million has been launched to gain interest and see the car through to production. Donors can help shape the future look of the production version. Current decisions for the design team include whether to make the production version a soft-top or hard-top and whether it should be a pure two seater or not.

The concept claims an acceleration time of sub three seconds along with a 800km (500 mile) range, but whether the production car will quite match these remains to be seen. With the marque’s centenary rapidly approaching in 2024, a production version would be a fitting way to mark the occasion.